drugs in Jamaica

[Sea Island Lady]

Let me guess your age?? First I am sure you were already grown up in the 1960s.

I bet you are in your middle or late 60s now. Which is OK.

I am 47.

 

As for illegal drugs causing crime, it seems to me that if you make something illegal you may cause some crime. Crazy, huh? Actually if you think about it most of the adverse consequences of drug use are related to the fact that they're illegal. And you mentioned violence, that is more associated with alcohol than with any other drug.

Many times a person can be desperate for a drug (MJ included) and do not have the money, therefore they will go out and rob a convenience store, pick pocket, etc...anyway to get some money to pay for their habit.

 

Violence - I witnessed my cousins life be ruined because she and her boyfriend were both high on MJ one evening...nothing else. Boyfriend became mad at cousin, tried to drag her out of a moving car when she was trying to get away. Neither one was using good judgment. He not realizing that the car was moving away and she continuing to drive away when he had a firm grip on her arm. She was jerked right out of the car, both fell...she was run over. Multiple fractures, many months of rehab, a substantial limp 28 years later, loss of self esteem, an alcoholic and a broken home. She blames all on her "wild and stupor" teen years, as she calls them. I will never forget that night at the beach. A large group passing the "weed" around in a circle. I refused to join in. This went on for what seemed like hours before the accident.

 

OK. I just saw on CNN that another college student has died of alcohol poisoning. No one in history has died of MJ poisoning (it's impossible.) So why the double standard?

Yes, extremely tragic!

Perhaps no one has died of MJ poison alone, but MJ has caused many deaths in one way or another.

Examples:

Marijuana- and tobacco-smoking are damaging to the lungs, but marijuana smoke has 50 to 70 percent more known carcinogens than tobacco smoke. In 1999, Dr. Zuo-Fend Zhang of the Jonsson Cancer Center at the University of California Los Angeles linked marijuana-smoking with head and neck cancers. He said, "Many people may think marijuana is harmless, but it's not. The carcinogens in marijuana are much stronger than those in tobacco." A year before, Dr. Marinel Ammenheuser and her colleagues at the University of Texas Medical Branch found evidence that marijuana-smoking causes the same kind of damage to DNA as tobacco.

http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/death/cannabis.htm

 

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/May-26-Wed-2004/news/23966599.html

 

I found this article interesting! http://www.teenhealthfx.com/answers/44.html

 

Enough for me on this subject...We can argue til the cows come home but the fact remains that MJ is illegal...whether it should be or not. I am not saying it should be one way or another, it just is. ;) I have never tried it, hope I don't ever need it, however, if it were to become a legal substance and it would help those that are sick, then I am all for it!

 

That's all folks! I will not return.

[vossjemi]

Right or wrong, many communities are lowering penalties for marijuana use and possession. I don't know if any of you have heard of Columbia, Missouri, where University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou) is located. I went to college there...big college town. To my surprise this Nov 2, Columbia voters passed laws that basically said there would be no penalties for possession of marijuana if you had a serious illness and a physician's prescription. Also, if you didn't have a rx, but only possessed a small amount, you would not be prosecuted...they would give you what is called a deferred prosecution, meaning they reserve the right to prosecute later if you are a repeat offender or something. Bet there will be lots of college students smoking it up this year! Here are some interesting articles about it.

 

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/DC2E7ADE1FF91B3F86256F4B006FBFEF?OpenDocument&Headline=Voters+cut+marijuana+penalties++

 

http://www.digmo.com/news/story.php?ID=10399

http://www.digmo.com/news/story.php?ID=10150

 

So, like it or not, decriminalization is in the works even here in what is primarily a Republican conservative state!!

 

As far as the Jamaica question....TELL YOUR STEPSON NOT TO RISK IT!!! NO WAY UNLESS HE WANTS TO SPEND SOME TIME IN PRISON! I'm sure he and his friend will be approached...we always are everywhere we go on vacation. We politely say no thank you, and go on our way. If he or his friends want to use it w/out risk of prosecution, tell him to go to Amsterdam (or Columbia, MO...cheaper to get there I bet! ha ha.;) ). My brother went to Amsterdam a few years ago, and said all the restaurants/stores sold it openly and legally and even had gourmet flavored varieties!

[mojo4trav]

<nevermind>

:cool:

[tprime76]

Are we still on the issue of the morality and safety of cannibus? Does either side actually think they are going to change the mind of the other?

[MrsPete]

DrD -- You've never seen a person whose life has been ruined by marijuana? I'd be glad to introduce you to my cousin.

 

He's 28 years old and is currently working part-time putting tires on cars. This job, like all his others, is not likely to last long. He lives with a relative who is something of an enabler (another story altogether, which I'll avoid in this post), he has no driver's license and no health insurance. His wife divorced him because of marijuana; he has a son whom he's never seen.

 

He does drink, but that doesn't seem to be his biggest problem -- he can take or leave alcohol. He has a fairly long police record -- all pot-related problems. He is completely obsessed with it. He swears off it for a while, but once he has some money in his pocket, he gets right back into it again. The result is always the same: he starts smoking all day long, forgets to go to his job, gets fired . . . he's been living this lifestyle since he was about 16. I have no doubt that if pot could be instantly and permanantly removed from this planet right now, he'd be better off.

[thefish]

It’s my understanding that ANY drug can be abused to the point that it affects a persons judgment and the welfare and safety of not only that person but others also. We love making laws to protect us and during the sixties the attention was focused on perceived drug abuse. It has been said that President Nixon believed that the so called hippie drug users were more apt to vote against him and become influenced by communists was a main reason leading to harsher laws prohibiting certain drug use. These laws passed easily at the time because it would have been political suicide for an elected official to do otherwise

 

Saying abusing one drug is safer than abusing another and one drug is prone to be abused more than another is like saying being shot in the head with a 32 caliber gun leaves a smaller hole than being shot in the head with a 45 caliber gun. I have seen some ruin their lives over their need for the high from MJ. Many have ruined their lives over the need for alcohol. The drug abuser will find his drug of preference. The easy availability of alcohol means a greater number of alcoholics.

 

As for the “recreational” alcohol or MJ user - This is hard to categorize recreational use because I have not met a person that “occasionally” has an alcoholic drink that has not on at least one occasion get, maybe, a little tipsy. I also believe those that enjoy a joint “on occasion” have not been, at least once, a little stoned. If we were from a civilization or culture where smoking a joint in public was more acceptable to society than drinking alcohol I believe that most would be using the same logic and arguing exactly the opposite of what they are arguing now. My drug is better than your drug. Instead of sitting at a bar drinking a margarita putting down dope heads we would be sitting at a bar smoking a joint putting down the drunks saying there out to be a law. The drug laws, including the restrictions on alcohol use, reflects our society and while there are more beer drinkers than pot smokers any laws regulating drug use will reflect this.

 

On a personal note, back in the 60’s when I tried MJ (I type MJ because I can’t spell it, too many lost brain cells) it took at least a couple of homegrown joints to even get a buzz. I did not care too much for MJ so I stopped smoking it. It made me feel weird, stank to high heavens and made good brownies taste bad. I also did not care too much for some the people that I on occasion, bought it from. Now I believe that you can get high on most of it after a few puffs. Also because of the control of the drug cartels over much of the distribution I would be very wary of whose pocket I would be putting my money in and I would have to buy it because I can’t grow squat. Also I am no longer young and taking stupid risks. I am old and stupid but less willing to take the risks to prove it.

 

Stayed a week in Jamaica. The drug sellers (all types of drugs) flocked to me like bees to a hive. I guess they can smell an old hippie from a mile off.

[Cruisehappymn]

Our tour guide told us that they see tourists being hauled off to jail quite frequently due to the idea that alot of people think it's legal in Jamica. She said it just isn't worth it because the cops do watch, especially around the pier.

 

On another note, we had a large obnoxious group on one of our cruises and one of the younger ones disappeared. Rumor had it that he was busted buying pot.

[Lowe6]

Just an FYI. On our last cruise we were informed that it is NOT illegal to sell the drugs. It's just illegal to buy them.

GO Figure !!!!

[nosnobunny]

Just an FYI. On our last cruise we were informed that it is NOT illegal to sell the drugs. It's just illegal to buy them.

GO Figure !!!!

 

That should tell you something wouldn't you think? :rolleyes:

 

Beth

[Cruisechik]

My best friends husband partakes in pot for recreational purposes. He is an upper level executive living in Hong Kong, working in China. They have three small children. His wife is very unhappy with his choice of "relaxation". She would much prefer he would "relax" in other ways (mainly with her ;)) It is really affecting their marriage. He is addicted, pure and simple. She thought he would get out of this habit after college. Well, it's been ten years. I worry for her, her children, her newborn, etc. Obviously, MJ contributes to irrational thinking - why does he risk using pot in China? I worry about his wife getting hauled away with him. MJ is not a benign substance - it is habit forming for some and destructive to their relationships.

[mojo4trav]

My best friends husband partakes in pot for recreational purposes. He is an upper level executive living in Hong Kong, working in China. They have three small children. His wife is very unhappy with his choice of "relaxation". She would much prefer he would "relax" in other ways (mainly with her ;)) It is really affecting their marriage. He is addicted, pure and simple. She thought he would get out of this habit after college. Well, it's been ten years. I worry for her, her children, her newborn, etc. Obviously, MJ contributes to irrational thinking - why does he risk using pot in China? I worry about his wife getting hauled away with him. MJ is not a benign substance - it is habit forming for some and destructive to their relationships.

To provide some information for your friend, look below. Perhaps it is time for her to call his company's Employee Assistance Line to get some help for his addiction. Any sense of shame or anger for being called out would be far better than losing her husband, father of their children, and bread-winner to a prison cell in a country like China.

• China has very strict laws against the possession or involvement (to any degree) in the production or sale of illicit drugs. The penalties for breaking these laws are harsh and stringently applied.
  
• Chinese law specifies 12 drug related crimes, which together cover the following activities:
  

• The smuggling, trafficking, transporting or manufacture of illicit drugs
  
• The smuggling of, or illegal trading in materials necessary for the manufacture of drugs
  
• The illegal cultivation of plants that produce or are themselves illicit substances
  
• The trading, transport or holding of seeds or seedlings of plants that produce or are themselves illicit substances
  
• The transferal or concealment of illicit drugs
  
• The holding of illicit drugs
  
• The procurement of illicit drugs
  
• The transferal, concealment or laundering of illicit drug-related money
  

• The penalty for being found in possession of an illicit drug (including cannabis) in China, is 10 years imprisonment. The punishment for those buying or selling illegal drugs (again including cannabis) is heavier - often 20 years incarceration.
  
• The death sentence is applied for criminals who smuggle, transport or sell large amounts of illicit drugs. China executes almost 10,000 people annually, many attributable to drug offenses.
  

Regardless of everyone's opinion on the matter, cannabis is illegal in most countries. Purchasing the drug in Jamaica can give you an abrupt end to an otherwise enjoyable vacation and cause enormous legal and financial troubles for your family. Purchasing the drug in China is just asking to be made an example of "Western Excess" by being put to death. Just say NO thank you! ;)

[Cruisechik]

Mojo4trav - thanks for the info. I am so worried about them! She will not call the company for help. I'll suggest it, but I know it won't happen. Her husband is very stubborn and I think she tries as best as she can. It's a difficult situation. It really bothers me when people think MJ is harmless.